William Gao

William Gao Hardy (; born 20 February 2003 ) is an English actor and musician. He is known for his debut role as Tao Xu in the Netflix series Heartstopper (2022–2026), for which he was nominated for a Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance.

Gao and his younger sister Olivia Hardy formed a music duo called Wasia Project in 2019.

Early life Gao was born on 20 February 2003 and is from South Croydon. He is the son of an English father and a Chinese mother who emigrated to England in her twenties. He attended Trinity School, where he completed A Levels in Chinese, music and drama in 2022. He took up classical piano at the age of 11 and was a member of Trinity Boys Choir. He joined the National Youth Theatre in May 2019.

After finding a casting call on his youth theatre's website, Gao auditioned and was cast as the character of Tao Xu in Heartstopper.

Filmography Television Year Title Role Notes 2022–2024 Heartstopper Tao Xu Main role; 24 episodes

Film

Theatre Year Title Role Venue 2016 Shakespeare at 400 Puck Royal Festival Hall A Midsummer Night's Dream Cobweb Glyndebourne 2022 The Trials Xander Donmar Warehouse

Music videos Year Title Other artist Director(s) As lead artist 2023 "Petals on the Moon" Wasia Project Grace Pickering "Ur So Pretty" Quinn Lovero "Remember When" Will Gao and Olivia Hardy 2024 "Takes Me Back Home"Charlie & Charlie "Somebody Come Through" "To Get Better" Guest appearances 2024 "Goddess" Laufey Celine Song

Accolades Award Year Category Nominated work Result Children's and Family Emmy Awards 2022 Outstanding Supporting Performance Heartstopper Gay Times Honours 2022 On Screen Trailblazer